Lantern Hollow

Lantern Hollow is the kind of game I want to hand to friends who say they don't like games. It's a gentle exploration adventure where you wander a hand-drawn village, solve environmental puzzles, and slowly relight it lantern by lantern. Every new light reveals a bit more of a quietly sad story.

There's no combat and no fail state, just curiosity pulling you forward. The puzzles are clever without being cruel, usually solvable by paying attention to the world rather than brute-forcing menus. The art alone is worth the download — it looks like a picture book someone loved into existence.

It's short, maybe four or five hours, and I mean that as praise. It says what it wants to say and gets out of the way. I finished it in two sittings and thought about it for days.

What we liked

• Gorgeous hand-drawn art
• Fair, world-based puzzles
• A story that lingers